Shaihulud's shrimps (local Caridina sp.)

[Trichopsis]

This post is way overdue, but I've been swamped with work and haven't really had the time.

Anyway, if you recall this thread, I made arrangements to obtain some shrimps from the ponds at the Singapore Science Centre, thanks to the efforts of Shaihulud. We met on the evening of Wednesday, 7th March. I counted 11 shrimps, all very much alive and in excellent condition, with a mixture of males and females (at least 2 females were berried). I'm inclined to think that they're more likely to be a species of Caridina (Atyidae) rather than Macrobrachium (Palaemonidae).

Here are some photos of the shrimps:

















Here's a closer look at a male and a female (unberried):







This pair was "sacrificed" and preserved in 75% ethanol, for future identification purposes.







The 9 shrimps that I brought home thrived in a small plastic container for a couple of days. I was too busy, so I really wasn't able to go ahead with my plans for them until the weekend. My initial idea was to place them into my main tank; however, due to their size, I feared that my fishes and riceland ('feeder') prawns would kill the shrimps. Because I had a small aquarium set aside for my male betta, with plenty of moss and little crevices for the shrimps to hide, I figured that they would do better in there. Big mistake.

I introduced all 9 shrimps to the male betta's tank on Friday night, 9th March. By Saturday morning, dead shrimps were scattered on the bottom, and one had even leapt out of the tank and died on my desk. It turns out that the male betta was very relentless in his attacks on the shrimps, and wouldn't stop harassing them. I managed to find a surviving male and female shrimp (unberried), which were jumping out of the water and ending up stranded on the glass above the surface until gravity brought them dropping back into the water, and transferred them to my main aquarium. I haven't seen them since. They could still be alive, but my fear is that they became snacks for my riceland prawns.

I'm planning to sell or give away my bettas, the male included, and have the smaller aquarium dedicated to these shrimps. If I'm able to obtain more shrimps from Shaihulud, I hope to be able to get a breeding colony going, from which I'll select some to be transferred to the main aquarium. Hopefully, with enough numbers, they'll be able to reproduce and establish themselves there even with predation from the rest of the inhabitants.

This chapter isn't over yet...

[Navanod]

Oh my, should I castigate you for turning them into feeder shrimps?

Aside from just setting aside a predator-free tank for them, you may want to also get the water parameters for that pond that they're from so you can try to prepare the tank for them based on those parameters.
I must caution you that betta and shrimp are world apart in their water requirements. Betta can survive in conditions that would kill many other fishes while shrimps will die in conditions that most fishes would just shrug off.

From the size of the eggs, they should hatch directly into shrimplets, without a larvae stage.
They also have a distinctive "hunch back" profile...intriguing...reminds me of the orange shrimp, caridina propinqua, mentioned recently by lucasjiang.
http://bubblesaquarium.com/images/Fi...nge_Shrimp.jpg

[Draka]

Hey Pseudo, I can't help but remark on the similarity between the shrimp that I passed to you for immortalisation and these. Their profiles and even the sizes match up (after all, both specimens were female). The berried female I had was like the one you have photographed. If the eggs hatch to have a brief day or two behaving like larvae ("standing" with tails pointing upwards, sessile except for jerking motions by which they move) before resuming more normal shrimp grazing behaviour, they might be the same.

[Shaihulud]

I am sorry that the first batch died due to predation. I am busy this month so I won't be able to catch more shrimps. It will have to be after April, because I am going on vacation. if I do get any shrimps because of classes, I will certainly reserve them for you.

[Trichopsis]

Sure, no rush!